The Next Generation
by NoraGirl
Summary: Nev and Evan Weasley are excited to start their first year at Hogwarts. They're expecting a normal year, but they find they must discover the truth about what happened when the War on Evil ended to discover the truth about themselves.
1. Letters

The wind that ruffled Evan's hair was warm and sleepy, matching the comfortable feel of the little town it was passing through. Evan stifled a yawn and turned his footsteps towards home. Lights were flicking on in the windows of small homes and flicking off as businesses closed. His mother always worried something awful if he wasn't home before true dark, and he hated when she worried because it made his father all anxious as well.

"Don't worry; I'm home!" he called as soon as he slipped through the front door.

"Evan!" his mother exclaimed, appearing in the kitchen doorway, flour dusting her nose. "It's nearly dark, dearest."

"Only _nearly_, Mum. Don't worry so. Is Da home from work yet?" Evan asked as he unlaced his shoes and kicked them into the corner.

"No. And even if he was, he wouldn't have time to spend with you, love. This is a very tense time at the Ministry."

"Yeah, I know," Evan said dully. "Bloody stupid time to decide to be Minister of Magic."

"Evan!" his mother declared, her eyes narrowing as she brought up her wand. Realizing what was coming, Evan ducked, but he wasn't quick enough to prevent getting a mouthful of soapy suds. "You watch your language, young man, and don't disparage your father's work! It's very important."

Making a face, Evan spat out the last of the soap suds and started upstairs. He knew how touchy of a subject it was, bringing up his father's poor timing in his Ministerial bid. It was true, though! He had been doing just fine working as a wandmaker, starting to build up a reputation of his own, and then just up and decided to become Minister of Magic. Oddly enough, his father had had little trouble gaining the post, which seemed odd for a lowly wandmaker from Hogsmeade.

"Evan, by the way, you got your letter today," his mother called upstairs, and Evan's mind was immediately torn from the oddities of his father's career.

"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME STRAIGHT OFF?" he demanded, jumping the stairs three at a time to arrive back in the hallway, panting slightly. "WHERE IS IT?"

"You're not getting it until you do something about your hair," his mother replied lightly.

Sighing resignedly, Evan tried to flatten his unruly mop of red curls, but they sprang back into untidiness almost immediately. His mother, he noticed, was smiling slightly at his attempts; she obviously wasn't expecting him to succeed. He also noticed she was clutching a thick letter in her hand, and he snatched it from her with a growl.

"Did Nev get one too?" he asked, his eyes lighting up when he didn't see another letter in sight. Perhaps his twin sister was a Squib! Then she would be shipped off to a Muggle school and Evan would have his run of Hogwarts without the pesky girl at all.

"Of course she got one," his mother replied as Evan ripped his letter open. "Oh, your father's home."

"Hello, dearest." Evan's father entered the hallway from the sitting room that he used as his Apparition point. "How was everything today?"

To Evan's surprise, his mother burst into tears and buried her head on her husband's shoulder. His father stroked her bushy brown hair softly, murmuring something to her. Evan retreated back upstairs, pulling his Hogwarts letter out of its envelope.

"Is Da home?"

Evan looked up to see Nev in his doorway just as he was flopping down onto his bed. Her long hair was more blonde than red, but she'd definitely gotten her share of the family freckles.

"Yeah, and Mum just 'bout went mad," Evan muttered. "Dunno what's up with that."

"She got a Howler today," Nev announced matter-of-factly. "I only heard the first bit; I think she did something to stop me from hearing the rest. But it didn't even make sense; something about someone Potter or whatnot. Bet it's about the Shadow Years."

"You're probably right," Evan said with a sigh. The Shadow Years had ended fourteen years ago, and of course no one ever would speak about them to young children. His mother and father evaded all questions about what they had been doing during the Shadow Years, although he'd figured out from years and ages that the War on Evil had ended the summer after their seventh year at Hogwarts, so neither of them was probably very involved.

"Did you get your letter?" Nev asked, lifting her hand to show her own. "I was quite excited. I really hope I'm in Hufflepuff."

"What?" Evan exclaimed. "You actually _want_ to be in _Hufflepuff_? How many times have you heard people talk about them as fluffheads?"

"Exactly. It can't be a deserved reputation. Do you really think a quarter of all British wizarding children are dunderheads? No, my theory is that they don't let non-Hufflepuffs in on anything cool. So I want to be one."

"You're nutters. I want to be in Gryffindor like Mum and Da."

Nev eyed him and Evan shifted uncomfortably. Her vivid green eyes always seemed to be boring straight into him when she did that. He sidled away, scratching his long nose and trying to think of something else to say. Luckily, he was saved from his sister's odd stare by a shriek from his mother.

"RONALD! HOW _DARE_ YOU!"

"Hush, now, love..." the rest of his father's words trailed off into a low murmur.

"What's that all about?" Nev asked curiously, hopping to her feet. "I wonder if it has anything to do with the Howler."

"Probably just more things at the Ministry that Da isn't doing right," Evan said. "Where are you going?"

"To listen, of course. What do you think?" Nev shook her head as if wondering at her brother's stupidity and then slipped away.

"I swear she's not even related to me," Evan muttered, getting to his feet and following her. "She's pure nutters."

"What if they come _here_, Ron?" his mother was saying as he joined Nev on the stairs. "What if they do something to the children?"

"Don't be silly. Evan will be perfectly safe, and Nev, well..." his father sighed heavily, "I don't know. I just don't know."

"Why didn't you just _lie_ or something?"

"Hermione! You ought to be ashamed. I'm the _Minister of Magic_, I can't go around lying just because I don't want the truth about my school years to come out. And your school years, too; this is as much your fault as mine."

"No it isn't!" hissed his mother. "I have the good sense not to tell anyone about it!"

"That's because no one ever asks you. If I was just running a shop in Hogsmeade, no one would bother me about it either."

"Oh, goodness, supper's going to burn. Just know this, Ronald--if anything happens to Nev, not only will he have your head, _I_ will have it too. Call the children, please."

Evan looked over at Nev, and her mouth was hanging open. Her bright green eyes were wide with fright and puzzlement. She shook her head when she saw him looking and gave him a tight smile. Obviously, she didn't know any more about that cryptic conversation than he did.


	2. Hogwarts

"Nev, please make sure you never wander the castle at night. I know it's tempting, but _stay in the dorms_."

"Yes, Mum, I know," Nev said patiently. She was leaning out of the window so her mother could impart some last words of wisdom before the Hogwarts Express puffed away from King's Cross.

"Nevermind anything about the Sorting," her father was saying to Evan on her left. "Any House is just as good as the other, and we'll be proud of you no matter what."

"Nev, are you listening? Don't offend any teachers on your first day, or you will regret it for the next seven years. Be polite to _everyone_, and if anyone treats you differently from the rest just ignore them--"

"Why would they do that, Mum?" Nev asked curiously. Sure, she was the daughter of the Minister of Magic, but that was no reason for discrimination.

"Oh, never you mind. I think the train's going to leave. Be good, dear! Write often! Study hard! Your O.W.L.s will be here sooner than you think and it can seriously damage your future prospects if you don't gather quite a few of them. And always start studying for exams at least a month ahead of time or you'll just be cramming and you won't remember anything."

"Hermione," Nev's father cut in sharply. "I only got 5 O.W.L.s and it didn't harm my career in the slightest. Don't start pressuring them already."

Her mother sighed and bit her lip. Before she could say anything else on the subject, however, the train started to move and Nev found herself waving furiously and shouting good-byes until her parents were out of sight.

"I can't believe you insisted on sitting with me," Evan grumbled, his ears turning slightly red. "How are we going to make any friends if people think we're friends."

"Evan, honestly! We are friends, and I'm sure lots of other people will want to be our friends."

At that moment, the door to their compartment slid open to reveal two boys and a girl, all with black hair. Nev thought that one of the boys and the girl looked like twins, and the other boy slightly older. Definitely all siblings, though.

"D'you mind if we sit?" asked the girl, already putting a bag overhead and arranging her skirt around her knees.

"Not at all," Nev replied, shooting Evan an I-told-you-so look. "I'm Nev Weasley, and this is my brother Evan."

"Is your Da the Minister of Magic?" the girl asked, her blue eyes widening slightly.

"Yeah," Evan replied, shrugging. "What of it?"

"Oh, nothing, I was just wondering. I'm Kella Zeller, by the way. Terribly nice to meet you."

"I'm Anton Zeller," said one of the boys, taking a seat next to Evan. "I'm a second year. You are both first years?"

"Yeah," Nev replied. "Is this your brother?"

The boy who hadn't spoken blushed to his roots and shook his head. "I'm Zach Davies," he told Nev in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

"He's my cousin," Kella said. "I hope he learns to be a bit more outgoing at Hogwarts or he won't have _any_ friends."

"Your cousin?" Evan asked, looking from Kella to Zach. "You guys look really similar."

"It happens. Cousins can look uncannily like one another. Besides, his mum is my mum's identical twin, so that has to count for something." Kella swept her long black hair from her face and smiled at Nev. "So what House d'you think you'll be in."

Evan looked over at Nev, and she determinedly avoided his gaze. She hadn't been lying about Hufflepuff, but... "Both of our parents were in Gryffindor," she said with a shrug. "So I suppose that's where we'll be."

"My mum was in Gryffindor, and my dad was in Ravenclaw. Anton's in Hufflepuff. So really I have no idea where I will be," Kella said with a small laugh.

"What about you?" Evan asked Zach, who looked shocked at being spoken to.

"My mum and dad were in Ravenclaw," he said quietly. "But I don't think I will be."

"Wait," Nev said, frowning slightly. "I thought your mum was Kella's mum's twin."

"That's right," Kella agreed. "They weren't in the same House, though."

Nev looked over at Evan and tried to imagine not being in the same House as him. She knew that he wasn't overly fond of her, but she hoped that it was just an outer sibling-rivalry thing because Evan was her best friend. If she was in Hufflepuff and he was in Gryffindor, would they ever even see each other?

Kella moved the conversation on the other topics, and the five children spent the ride to Hogwarts becoming friends, although Zach was incredibly reticent to take part in any conversation at all. Nev's heart seemed to be beating unnaturally fast as she changed into her school robes. The next thing she knew she was boarding a small boat beneath the star-spangled sky. Kella got on right behind her, and then Evan. Zach looked around wildly when he realized there was only room for 3 in a boat and stepped into one with two girls who were chattering excitedly to each other.

The entrance hall was larger than anything Nev had imagined. Their cozy Hogsmeade house would have been dwarfed in it. She shivered slightly and took a step closer to Evan. He gave her what could have been an encouraging smile and she felt better.

"Good evening, first years. I am the Deputy Headmaster, Professor Flitwick. In just a moment's time you will be Sorted into your Houses. These Houses will become your Hogwarts family, and you can both earn and lose points due to your behaviors in class and the school. Each House is just as good as another. Alright, everyone ready? Follow me, please."

The first years, all suddenly very quiet, lined up behind the short man and followed him through a door. "Wow," Nev thought when they entered the Great Hall. The ceiling was just as star-spangled as the sky outside had been, and it was huge. Candles floated in the air above four long tables, and a multitude of students in blacks hats and robes were making quite a din as they spoke with one another.

There was a very worn hat sitting on a stool, and Nev eyed it warily. Her parents had never told her what a Sorting entailed, but she thought through some of the spells she knew and wondered if they would be helpful. Evan looked slightly ill next to her. Suddenly, the hat broke into song, startling the small huddle of first years.

_Long ago I was given intelligence_

_to help the noble founders_

_in their quest for students_

_with talents and aims like theirs._

_For Godric Gryffindor did crave_

_those students both strong and brave._

_Yet Rowena Ravenclaw did prize_

_those students both honest and wise._

_None for Salazar Slytherin would do_

_but those with cunning and brains, too._

_Helga Hufflepuff asked for nothing more_

_than loyalty and a heart that was sure._

_To this day I can do their choosing,_

_just put me on your head._

_I'll tell you where you will be snoozing,_

_in a great, four poster bed!_

"Just put the hat on our head?" Evan whispered to Nev. "That's a relief."

"I agree. I was wondering if _Wingardium Leviosa _would do me any good." For some reason, that had been the first spell that Nev and Evan's parents had told them about, and they had seemed to find it quite amusing. Nev hadn't been able to do it for ages, although that was partly her nervousness about the Underage Restriction of Wizardry, despite her father's assurances that he wouldn't let her get in trouble.

Nev realized that Professor Flitwick had been calling forth students and several of them had already been Sorted into their Houses. It seemed to be going in alphabetical order, which meant she had a long time to wait.

"Davies, Zach," Professor Flitwick called, and looking frightened out of his wits, the black-haired boy went forward.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted, and Zach made his way down to the table that had exploded into cheering.

"I'm probably going to be last," Kella said with a sigh. She didn't look nervous at all. "At least you won't go too much before me."

"Weasley, Evan."

Evan grinned broadly at Nev, but he looked nervous. The hat sat on his head for what seemed like ages before it shouted out, "GRYFFINDOR!" Looking quite relieved, Evan made his way over to sit by Zach and the two chattering girls from Zach's boat.

"Weasley, Ginevra."

Nev sighed. She certainly wished they didn't insist on using her full name. It was as ugly a name as could be, and despite her parents assurances that Ginevra had been a very famous and powerful witch, Nev had never heard of her. She made her way over to the stool and sat down. The hat fell over her eyes and the Great Hall disappeared into darkness.

"I wondered when I would be seeing you," the hat murmured. "I see your father's worth in you, yes, and you're powerful like your mother, and you are quite unique from them as well. Difficult decision, but yes, I think it has to be GRYFFINDOR!"

Feeling weak with relief, Nev jogged down and took a seat next to Evan, who grinned at her. So he wasn't mad that she was in his House! She gave him a quick hug before turning around to watch the last bits of the Sorting. "Wettach, Ashley," went to Slytherin and then "Young, Jordan," went to Hufflepuff, and then Kella was taking her seat on the stool. The hat had barely gone over her eyes before shouting out "GRYFFINDOR!" and Nev clapped wildly.

"Sit here," she called to Kella, making sure there was room. "I'm so glad you're in my House!"

"Me too, Ginevra," Kella replied with a mischievious grin.

"Oh, call me that and die," Nev muttered with a sour look.

"May I have your attention, please! Yes, thank you, everyone." Nev turned in her seat to face the high table, where a stern-looking woman had gotten to her feet. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts! We look forward to the excellence you will bring to these halls. Our caretaker, Mr. Filch, would have you know that Canary Creams have been added to the list of forbidden items. Please, now, enjoy your feast."

Food suddenly appeared on the golden plates, and Nev realized that she was starving. "Is that the Headmistress?" she asked as she served herself some potatoes.

"Professor McGonagall, yeah," Evan told her, rolling his eyes.

Nev was mostly silent throughout the rest of the meal and as she followed the others up many staircases to a potrait of a rather fat lady in pink. Someone said the password—Pax Romana—and she climbed through a hole. She should have been drinking in the sight of their common room and listening to the prefects like the others, but her mind wasn't in it at all. She couldn't stop thinking about what the hat had said to her. Sure, so her father was famous, but how would a hat know that? And what about her mother being a powerful witch? Sure, she knew that her mother had been the top of her class at Hogwarts, a prefect, Head Girl, and all that, but that didn't seem to be what the hat had been referring to.

"Well, 'night, Nev. See you in the morning," Evan was saying to her, and she nodded and bid him good night as well.

"Come on. Our dormitories are right up here," Kella exclaimed, taking the steps two at a time. "Oh, look, take the bed next to mine!"

Nev changed into her pajamas slowly, half-hearted taking part in the introductions with the four other girls in her dorm room. Maybe the hat had said similar things to Evan, but she felt strangely reluctant to ask. It seemed oddly personal. Perhaps it would make more sense in the morning.


	3. DADA

Evan could feel his head slowly drooping towards his desk, and with a jerk he restored it to a proper height. His classes were fascinating, but he had barely gotten a wink of sleep the night before. Nev wasted no time in telling him it was quite his own fault—he'd left a long essay about a personal experience with accidental magic until the last minute—but she was looking awfully sleepy as well, and he had a sneaking suspicion he wasn't the only procrastinator in the family.

"That about wraps it up for today. I know you probably would have preferred to cover this subject in History of Magic, but Professor Binns declines to go into recent wizarding developments."

Evan looked up to see his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Tonks, erasing the board with a wave of her wand. She was a youngish woman, and he could have sworn she'd had pink hair during their last class, but it looked much more red today.

"What was she talking about?" he hissed to Zach Davies.

"The War on Evil," Zach replied in a barely audible whisper.

"Brilliant! Are we actually going to learn what happened?" Evan asked, perking up slightly. No one—being his parents—would ever tell him what had happened fourteen years ago, or why everyone was so afraid to talk about the Shadow Years.

Before Zach could answer, Professor Tonks spoke up. "Homework for next Thursday is to write an essay about the Dark Lords' downfall. There are several excellent books in the library, as well as some Professors who might not be opposed to being interviewed. Class dismissed."

Nev rushed over to Evan, her vivid green eyes flashing happily. "I can't believe they are actually teaching us what happened! I bet Mum would be _so_ angry if she knew. Do you think that Professor Tonks will let us interview her?"

With a shrug, Evan slung his bag over his shoulder and was already going out the door before Nev had a chance to turn around. He was so tired! Let Nev chatter about all this to Kella, who seemed to maybe actually care what Nev had to say.

"I'm going to go to the library," Nev breathed as soon as she caught up to him. "Do you want to come?"

"Nev!" he protested, shaking his head. "We have over a week for this essay!"

With a slight frown, Nev slowed her steps to walk next to Kella and Zach, leaving him to lead the way up to their common room alone. Fine. He was going to catch a nice nap before supper time. Nothing that Nev had to say was going to prevent that.

"Pax Romana," he told their guardian portrait, and she swung open. He could hear Nev telling Kella about an odd incident in Diagon Alley. Well, _he_ was going to take a nap.

"Hey, Evan, wait for a moment," Nev called when he started for his dormitory steps. "I'll catch up with you, Kella."

The black-haired girl and her cousin put their bags in the corner and then climbed back out the portrait hole, their voices cut off as the portrait swung shut behind them.

"What, Nev?" Evan asked, groaning inwardly. She had a very keen look on her face that didn't seem good for his nap.

"You weren't paying attention, were you?" she breathed quietly. "Professor Tonks said that this related to Defense Against the Dark Arts because it showed why we always need to be prepared. She said _even Hogwarts isn't safe_."

"So?"

"Oh, Evan, you're so thick sometimes! We always assumed that Mum and Da didn't have anything to do with the War on Evil because they were at Hogwarts. But what if the Final Battle took place _at Hogwarts_?" Nev's face was pale under her freckles.

"Don't be silly, Nev. Mum and Da couldn't have had anything to do with the War on Evil. We would have known if Hogwarts had been the site of a some battle. I mean, nothing looks any different than how Mum or Da described it." Despite his tiredness, Evan was slightly interested. Nev could possibly have a point. Maybe.

"Not the faculty!" Nev crowed triumphantly, and then looked around hastily. The common room was empty except for a pair of sixth years in the corner who didn't look up.

"What do you mean?"

"Surely it's not normal to change the faculty that much from year to year? In the past fourteen years, since Mum and Da were here, a lot of teachers changed."

"Like who?" Evan asked, but a few names were already coming to mind.

Nev rolled her eyes and took a step closer. "Professor Dumbledore. Professor Snape. Professor Trelawney. Professor Shacklebolt. Professor Hagrid. We've heard Mum and Da talk about them before, and _all of them are gone now_. It doesn't seem likely that at least five professors died when the War on Evil ended."

Evan shook his head. He was definitely going up to his dormitory right now to take a nap. "How do you know they're dead? People retire, you know."

"I checked," Nev whispered.

"Why would you do that?" Evan protested. "You just came up with this harebrained theory a half hour ago!"

"I know that. I'm just connecting pieces that I already knew, though. You see I wanted to send an owl to Professor Hagrid and to Professor Dumbledore."

"Why—?"

"That's none of your business!" Nev snapped. "Anyway, I did some research and it turns out they're both dead. Coincidence? I decided to check the other teachers that I knew Mum or Da had in their seventh year. All those five are dead. Plus there are teachers that Mum or Da might not have had, and they might have died. So at least five teachers died, Evan! That has to mean something!"

Evan tried to flatten his mop of curls, his hazel eyes scrunched up as he thought. Nev was right; it was a very large coincidence that five teachers would have died around the same time. Yet it didn't really mean anything, not to him and Nev. Their lives weren't going to change based on something that happened three years before they were born.

"I'm going to take a nap," he informed Nev, and her face fell. "Maybe I'll go to the library with you after supper."

"Thanks, Evan!" she declared, giving him a quick hug. "I'll go get started. See you at supper!"

Evan made his way upstairs very slowly. _It's just an essay_, he told himself firmly, taking off his shoes and drawing the curtains around his bed. It took him quite a while to drop off to sleep. Even if it was true, there was no reason that it would have any effect on him or Nev. He reassured himself with that thought several times before finally slipping into a fitful sleep.


End file.
